If you've ever watched "South Park," you know its creators have a penchant for violent, offensive content and lewd, obscene language. Hopefully, you take it with a grain of salt when the series mocks some contemporary idea, celebrity or religion.
It used to be that nothing was safe from "South Park's" biting humor. This includes Mormons, Catholics, Scientologists, Jews, Jesus Christ, "The Simpsons," "Family Guy," Sea World, the Japanese, Canadians, homosexuals, PETA, Johnnie Cochran, "Star Wars," "Star Trek," liberals, conservatives, presidents past and present, Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson and the Denver Broncos.
The list goes on and on.
But, do you notice a missing religion that is apparently safe from "South Park's" critique?
A two-part installment of the Comedy Central show contained images of the prophet Muhammad, or at least something in resemblance. Here's a brief rundown of the story:
In part one, all the celebrities that the people of South Park had mocked have joined forces to file a class-action lawsuit against the town. They agree to drop the suit if South Park can provide them with the prophet Muhammad. They want Muhammad for his inability to be mocked or humiliated.
The people of South Park are faced with a dilemma, as any public appearance of Muhammad will cause extremists to bomb the town. Another group, known as the Ginger Separatist Movement, wants Muhammad for much the same reason and threatens to bomb the town if the townsfolk don't hand him over.
They call on the "Super Best Friends," a Super Friends-like organization of religious figures, to deliver Muhammad. Knowing the risk of showing him in public, they dress him in a bear mascot outfit.
In the next episode, the "ginger" kids force Muhammad to step out of his bear costume, revealing that it was Santa Claus all along. They captured Muhammad anyway and use a "goo transfer" process to transfer Muhammad's inability to be ridiculed to Tom Cruise. This places a "censored" box over his body.
It turns out later that the goo transfer process doesn't make one immune from ridicule, and Kyle has a monologue that is completely censored by Comedy Central.
South Park Studios released a statement in response to the censorship of the episode:
"In the 14 years we've been doing ‘South Park,' we have never done a show that we couldn't stand behind. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn't some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle's customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn't mention Muhammad at all, but it got bleeped too. We'll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we'll see what happens to it."
Consider the fact that Jesus Christ was portrayed as watching pornography and Buddha was shown snorting cocaine. On top of that, a 2001 episode portrayed Muhammad along with the rest of the Super Best Friends without backlash.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, Zachary Chesser, who goes by the username "Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee," posted on his Mujahid Blog, "We have to warn Matt [Stone] and Trey [Parker] that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh if they do air this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them."
The "not a threat" part contradicts a Twitter post he made April 15.
"May Allah kill Matt Stone and Trey Parker and burn them in Hell for all eternity. They insult our prophets Muhammad, Jesus, and Moses..." the tweet said.
Naturally, one individual can't speak for all Muslims. Every religion has its extremists — for instance, the Christian militia group that was arrested in March for plotting against local law enforcement.
But it seems that Muslim extremists go after the pettiest of things and instill the most fear. Maybe I don't understand the emotion involved because I don't adhere to any particular religion. Call me a heathen if you want.
Here's a little background story if you aren't aware of Theo Van Gogh's story. Van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker, was assassinated in 2004 by a Muslim extremist after producing a film critical of the treatment of Islamic women.
Have we really regressed to the point where we must watch what we say in fear of reprisal once again? This isn't Soviet Russia! TV does not watch you!
Sure, Comedy Central is just trying to watch its butt, but we shouldn't feel threatened. Not in this day and age.
It's unfortunate for upstanding Muslims as well. It's a horrible stereotype to be associated with.
Until Comedy Central finds its testicles, nothing is safe from "South Park" ... except for Islam.
Write to Andrew at ajkidd@bsu.edu.
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